Impacting One Life at a Time

10:15am. Monday, June 30th

The group meet out on the beach to set up for a morning outreach. We were unsure and somewhat wavering in the thought of children participating in the bible study and craft, but we went out anyway. There were very few families out and about but we invited all those we saw to the 30 minute Bible study. After we invited all the children we saw, we all came back to the tent empty handed. Since there were currently no children, we changed our plans and began to pass out waters to the vacationers and play frisbee. Unknown to us we had touched the hearts of a few people, for a mother and daughter came to our tent and asked to take part in whatever we had planed. As the daughter decorated her visor and learned about being the "Light of the World," we learned the family had gone through the loss of their father in November of 2007 and the mother said they were just being "carried in the arms of Jesus." Oh how the Lord surprises us when we least expect it.

Following their departure we went back out giving away water and Kool-Aid. On this trip we met a man and his daughter who were playing in the sand. When she heard we were making visors, she jumped away from her sand spinner, grabbed my hand and began to walk towards the tent with us collecting seashells as she went. The excitement in her face as she completed her visor was one I (Rachel) had never seen before, she was so proud of her creation and immediately placed it on her head to show the world. When we walked her back we asked her father if they had any prayer requests, the response blew us away. He told us that his wife was battling clinical depression but followed that by saying that "the Lord never gives us more than we can handle." As we stood there speechless, I realized that only the Lord could have led us to these families on this day to bring them encouragement and love from a fellow Christian.

I realized sometimes we seem to forget that we have come to share the good news and to minister to those who need the love and support from their family of believers. Too often do I forget the needs of the Christians around me and try to simply "save the lost;" when we, as brothers and sisters in Christ, need other's helping hand and encouragement just as much as the lost person needs to be saved. But the truth of the matter is that everything that we did today and all that we will do in this week boils down to love.

"'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?' Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.'" Matthew 22:36-40